Keratoconus in Corona, CA

What Is Keratoconus?

Keratoconus is a degenerative corneal disease that is usually hereditary and generally occurs while a person is in their late teens to thirties. Keratoconus causes a thinning and cone-shaped protrusion of the central cornea, resulting in poor vision. Keratoconus can also make the patient more vulnerable to infections and perforations of the cornea. If not treated, blindness may eventually result.

At TriCounty Eye Institute, we perform a number of diagnostic tests to rule out any signs of keratoconus for our patients considering refractive surgery.

Vision Correction with Keratoconus

Since Keratoconus leaves the cornea irregular and cone shaped, glasses quite often do not adequately correct the vision in patients with keratoconus. The majority of keratoconus patients see their best with rigid contact lenses since these lenses more smoothly allow the light rays to be projected clearly to the retina.

For patients that are tired of wearing contacts lenses continuously, there are two FDA approved vision correction procedures: Corneal Cross Linking or a Intrastromal Corneal Ring, also known as Intacs®.

Keratoconus Diagnosis

Heredity has not been clearly established. As a general rule, the chances of a blood relative developing clinical keratoconus are less than 10%. Generally young patients with keratoconus are more likely to progress to the point where they may ultimately require some form of surgical intervention.

Many patients are initially unaware they have keratoconus and see their eye doctor because of increasing changes in their corrective lens prescription. In many instances, even a good refraction yields poor vision. Keratoconus is most often diagnosed by a cornea specialist such as Dr. Mark Schneider during his refractive surgery evaluation.

Keratoconus may initially occur in one eye only but most commonly affects both eyes. Both males and females are equally affected, and there is no ethnic predilection.

TriCounty Eye Institute offers comprehensive eye care and skin care to residents of Corona, CA, Riverside, CA, the Inland Empire, and Orange County. Our family of eye care and cosmetic specialists is specially trained and qualified to help you enjoy a lifetime of clear vision and skin with breakthroughs in cataract surgery, the latest in laser vision correction procedures, and the most advanced technology in skin care.